IJLHTW - 26

A surgeon with an injured hand—do you think he can still perform surgery?

Xu Siyang’s tone carried a hint of regret, but in Huo Ci’s heart, it stirred up a storm. He had actually stopped being a doctor because of an injury to his hand?

“How did he get injured?” she asked.

Xu Siyang shook his head: “I don’t know. He wouldn’t say when I asked. All I know is that the Médecins Sans Frontières people suddenly contacted my eldest sister, saying something happened to him. She personally brought him back and stayed in Beijing for an entire month at the military hospital. His hand was saved, but he can no longer hold a scalpel.”

“But he entered the operating room just a few days ago,” Huo Ci said in astonishment.

At this, Xu Siyang became even angrier: “This child never lets anyone rest easy. When my eldest sister talks about his situation, she cries.”

Seeing him talk about Yi Zecheng like this, Huo Ci immediately became angry and defended him: “At the very least, what he does is meaningful. It’s something he wants to do and has consistently persevered in. If everyone only thought of themselves, there would be no organizations like Doctors Without Borders or doctors volunteering in Africa.”

Xu Siyang, who had been lazily leaning on the sofa, saw her righteous expression and burst into laughter.

He licked his lips and chuckled: “Oh, so protective.”

These words were spoken with a laugh. Although it had only been a few days, Xu Siyang observed from the side and felt amazed. He and Yi Zecheng grew up together since childhood. His mother wasn’t in good health and risked her life to give birth to him. It wasn’t that she particularly loved their old man; it was just for the title of a wealthy lady.

In the end, though the son was born, his mother was gone.

Xu Siyang was raised by his eldest sister, who was also Yi Zecheng’s mother. Though he was the younger uncle, his age was younger than Yi Zecheng’s. Having grown up without a mother, everyone indulged him. Over time, he developed his current personality. When he was with Yi Zecheng, if not told, no one would believe they were uncle and nephew.

Though Xu Siyang might seem unreliable, he understood Yi Zecheng well.

His eldest nephew truly was like the neighbor’s child—never once causing elders worry from childhood to adulthood.

Except for once, when he decided to join Médecins Sans Frontières.

At that time, the family was in complete turmoil. The Yi and Xu families held such high statuses—one powerful, the other wealthy. Even before Yi Zecheng graduated, their old man had declared that any position in Ming Sheng Group was his for the taking. Even the chairman’s position, the old man would step down without hesitation.

The person who made both families proud and reassured for over twenty years packed a bag and went to Africa.

He went on four missions, all to war-torn areas where people lived in misery. No fame, no profit, only enduring life-threatening dangers because one never knew when a bomb might fall from above.

So after turning thirty, he hadn’t even had a woman by his side.

Here, when Xu Siyang first saw Huo Ci, he was genuinely excited.

He could tell that Yi Zecheng’s attitude towards her was definitely not as cold as it appeared. If he were truly cold, he would treat Ye Mingshi that way. Xu Siyang had studied abroad in England early on and knew Ye Mingshi. He understood Yi Zecheng’s attitude towards female friends—he never gave false hope, his heart was truly cold and hard.

But towards Huo Ci,啧啧, his attitude was far from ordinary.

…

Huo Ci looked out the window and softly said, “I wonder how that child’s medical examination turned out.”

Several days had passed since the black child’s surgery, and the test results should have come out by now. These past few days, this matter had been on her mind.

“You don’t know?” Xu Siyang blinked in surprise, and Huo Ci stared at him.

He innocently said, “The report came out yesterday. Pan Chen personally informed us. That child didn’t carry the HIV virus, nor any other infectious diseases.”

Afterward, he disdainfully added, “These African hospitals are inefficient. Just a routine checkup took three days. And my eldest nephew too—it’s such a big deal, yet he didn’t tell me. If Pan Chen hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have known. Occupational exposure is dangerous.”

He kept muttering, but before he finished, Huo Ci abruptly stood up.

Xu Siyang was startled and hurriedly asked, “Where are you going?”

She picked up her backpack from the side and walked out.

________________________________________

After leaving the hotel, Huo Ci felt agitated.

These past few days, she had been constantly worried about him. As a former medical student, she understood the dangers of occupational exposure too well. Especially since he had been directly cut on the palm during surgery, the scalpel stained with the patient’s blood and then cutting his hand.

In occupational exposures, this was considered the most severe situation.

What infuriated Huo Ci was that he didn’t even tell her the result. Damn it, does he still consider her an outsider?

Her face darkened as she walked forward silently. The surroundings were quiet.

This hotel was located in the affluent area of Conakry, not far from the beach. In the previous days, they had been busy traveling to impoverished villages nearby and hadn’t had time to visit.

She wore a white wide-brimmed hat, denim shorts, and her long, straight, snow-white legs were exposed.

In her hand was her camera, which she always carried with her. It had been in her bag when she left the hotel earlier.

Near the beach were clean, beautiful houses. Although the country was generally poor, there were still many wealthy individuals. Various embassies were also nearby.

When she stood by the roadside, a little girl approached holding a bundle of crudely made shell crafts. Huo Ci noticed she wasn’t wearing shoes and looked hopeful, so she bent down to examine the items on the small wooden board in front of her.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she squatted down, someone suddenly rushed over and snatched her camera.

The little girl was knocked to the ground, and Huo Ci helped her up. She prepared to chase after the thief, but unexpectedly, the little girl grabbed her. Soon, four or five black people surrounded her—men and women alike.

Huo Ci sneered. This was clearly a setup.

“Get lost,” she said in French.

Her expression was too fierce, somewhat scaring these people. Foreigners here were treated as VIPs, especially with the increasing status of Chinese people in recent years.

She pushed aside the black man blocking her path, slung her backpack on, and prepared to chase after her camera.

However, seeing that they hadn’t received a single penny and that she was alone, these people were unwilling to let her go easily.

Huo Ci showed no more courtesy. She kicked the black man in front of her. He was tall but very thin, and her sudden kick sent his body flying backward.

Perhaps the effect was too striking, as the others nearby no longer dared to block her.

But the thief had already disappeared from sight, and she sprinted after him.

When Huo Ci ran into an alleyway, she saw the thief hugging her camera, triumphantly talking to another person. Huo Ci laughed in anger. What an idiot—he didn’t even run far to sell the stolen goods.

She walked into the alley and shouted at him: “Give me back my camera.”

She still spoke in French, but obviously, these two couldn’t understand. She sneered, pointing at the camera in his hand and beckoning with her finger. However, this contemptuous gesture successfully enraged the two black men.

As they charged at her, Huo Ci threw the wide-brimmed hat on her head at one of them.

Blocked momentarily, Huo Ci delivered a flying kick. The two years of sweat and injuries in the training hall hadn’t been in vain.

Huo Ci’s legs were long and powerful, so in the training hall, her coach mostly trained her in flying kicks.

Just like the previous man, this one was kicked flying. Though these black men were tall, they were exceptionally thin and not physically robust.

After kicking this one, Huo Ci hesitated when facing the other, who held her camera.

While they were at a standoff, Huo Ci didn’t expect that the black man she had kicked and who was lying on the ground would take advantage of her distraction and suddenly lunge up, grabbing her neck from behind.

“Boss, do we need to go down?” A black-clad man in the passenger seat of the black sedan respectfully asked the person in the backseat.

A light chuckle sounded from the backseat: “Not yet, wait a bit longer.”

The rear window of the car slowly opened, revealing an elegant, handsome profile. As he slowly turned his head, his face appeared charmingly mischievous.

**

When Huo Ci was fiercely choked from behind, she tried to kick, but the man’s hands clamped around her neck like a vice. She reached for her backpack, knowing there was a dagger inside.

Seeing this man succeed, the opposing man excitedly ran up and attempted to kick her.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he got close, Huo Ci kicked him in the face, making him scream in pain.

The black man behind her probably didn’t expect her to be so fierce, still resisting in such a situation. He shouted to the man on the ground, who then pulled out a dagger from his pocket.

Huo Ci looked at the knife, her eyes fierce, without a trace of fear.

Then, she heard a muffled groan and the terrified voice of the opposing man. He dropped the dagger in his hand and knelt on the ground.

She felt the force around her neck loosen, and then a hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her from the black man’s grasp into an embrace.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” A cold voice whispered angrily in her ear.

The anger was so intense that it disrupted the usual calmness in his voice.

This wasn’t good. He was supposed to be an icy mountain—how could he get angry?